Common salt (sodium chloride) is conventionally an essential nutrient component for human beings, but the excess intake of salt is supposed to cause diseases such as high blood pressure, renal disease, and heart disease. On this account, it is required to reduce the intake of salt, especially the intake of sodium. A possible method for reducing the intake of salt is reducing the amount of salt used for seasoning or processing of foods and drinks, but simply reducing the amount of salt unfortunately results in a less salty taste and deterioration of flavor. To address this problem, potassium chloride is most commonly used at the present time as a salt alternative, which does not impair the salty taste or flavor of the foods and drinks. However, the potassium in potassium chloride or the like has a characteristic taste, specifically, unpleasant tastes such as harshness, irritativeness, and remaining bitterness. This greatly limits the usage and the application field of potassium.
Previously disclosed techniques for improving the taste characteristic of potassium include a salt alternative comprising potassium chloride and an autolyzed yeast extract in an amount effective to reduce the bitterness caused by the potassium chloride (Patent Literature 1), a seasoning that is used for reducing the amount of salt in a food and comprises, as an active component, a solid or semisolid flavor oil obtained by heating 100 parts by weight of an edible solid fat, 1 to 10 parts by weight of a yeast extract processed seasoning, and 0.3 to 5 parts by weight of water (Patent Literature 2), a salty taste enhancing agent comprising a mixture of an animal protein enzymatic decomposition product and a plant protein enzymatic decomposition product, potassium chloride, a basic amino acid, and sodium gluconate (Patent Literature 3), a taste-improving agent that is used for a potassium salt or a potassium salt-containing food or drink and comprises a carboxylic acid except quinic acid or a salt of the carboxylic acid except the potassium salt (Patent Literature 4), a potassium-containing food or seasoning comprising potassium ions and reduced maltose syrup at a particular ratio (Patent Literature 5), and suppression of the harshness of potassium chloride by adding a yeast extract (Non-Patent Literature 1). However, the related art techniques have advantages and disadvantages and do not necessarily provide a satisfactory effect, and there is still a demand for a further improved method.